In June 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping issued a general mobilization order for the "Three-North" Shelterbelt Program (Sanbei) to build it into a complete and impenetrable green Great Wall and ecological security barrier in northern China. Over the past two years, "Three-North" provinces have focused on desertification control, accelerating the construction of the northern ecological security barrier. Currently, over 100 million mu of construction tasks have been completed. Since this spring, the three landmark battles of the "Three-North" Shelterbelt Program have been accelerated. In the east, the annihilation battles in the Horqin and Hunshandake sandy lands are accelerating the elimination of shifting sands, with over 14.22 million mu of construction tasks completed. In the central region, the battle for the "Yellow River's Inner Loop" (Jiziwan) focuses on ecological issues such as sand and water hazards, with a cumulative completion of 47.76 million mu of construction tasks, effectively reducing the amount of sediment flowing into the Yellow River. In the west, the Hexi Corridor - Taklamakan Desert Edge Defense Battle is further strengthening the ecological defense line based on the perimeter forest and grass belts around the desert, pushing back the edge of the Tengger Desert by 25 kilometers. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to the construction of China's northern ecological security barrier, conducting multiple on-site inspections in the "Three-North" project areas. He pointed out that the "Three-North" region has a very fragile ecology, and desertification control is a long-term historical task that must be continuously grasped to be worthy of our ancestors and descendants. At the symposium on strengthening comprehensive desertification prevention and control and promoting key ecological projects such as the "Three-North" Shelterbelt Program held in June 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the goal of fighting a decisive battle for the "Three-North" Shelterbelt Program in about 10 years, building it into a complete and impenetrable green Great Wall and ecological security barrier in northern China. The "Three-North" Shelterbelt Program covers 46.7% of China's land area. Around the questions of what to do, where to do it, and how to do it, 68 key project areas have been scientifically planned and arranged for "map-based combat," with various departments and regions adopting tailored measures and exploring new models for project construction. In Xilin Gol, Inner Mongolia, the local government is relying on the "road-based sand control" project to build over 600 kilometers of new rural and pastoral roads this year, dividing the sandy land into grids through the road network to block shifting sands. On the edge of the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang, a sand-blocking "photovoltaic corridor" more than 1 kilometer wide and about 800 kilometers long is under construction. Today, the concept of sand control is undergoing a complete transformation, with key areas breaking administrative boundaries and vigorously promoting new mechanisms for joint prevention and control. In the Maowusu Sandy Land, the four provinces and regions of Gansu, Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Inner Mongolia are working together to accelerate the construction of a cross-boundary locking forest and grass protection system for Maowusu, ensuring thorough治理 of previously neglected bare sandy areas at the provincial borders. Nowadays, various machines such as drones for transporting seedlings, sand barrier laying machines, and sand fixing machines are increasingly used in the "Three-North" Shelterbelt Program areas, with the power of technology continuously helping to improve the effectiveness of sand control. Barren mountains are adorned with beauty, and deserts are turning into oases. Currently, the trend of "green advancing and sand retreating" is significantly accelerating in the eastern annihilation battle zones, the joint prevention and control pattern has basically formed in the central decisive battle zones, and the green protective belt along the perimeter of the Taklamakan Desert has been initially established in the western defense battle zones. In the vast northern frontier of our motherland, the thousands of miles of green barrier are becoming more solid, creating new miracles in China's desertification control in the new era.
Ding Xuexiang, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on the 20th. Ding Xuexiang first conveyed the cordial greetings and good wishes from President Xi Jinping to President Putin. Ding Xuexiang stated that President Xi Jinping was invited to visit Russia and attend the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War, and together with President Putin, made new top-level designs for the development of China-Russia relations in the next stage. China is willing to continuously consolidate political mutual trust with Russia, deepen cooperation in various fields such as investment and energy, support the respective development and revitalization of the two countries, and make greater contributions to promoting an equal and orderly multipolar world and inclusive economic globalization. Putin asked Ding Xuexiang to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi Jinping, stating that Russia is willing to further strengthen practical cooperation with China and looks forward to attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Tianjin Summit and the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War in China.
Ding Xuexiang, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, attended and addressed the plenary session of the 28th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on the 20th. Ding Xuexiang said that 10 years ago, President Xi Jinping, in his important speech at the general debate of the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly, proposed that peace, development, equity, justice, democracy, and freedom are common values of all humankind and the lofty goals of the United Nations. This important assertion has received widespread support and active responses from the international community. The world is currently undergoing accelerated profound changes unseen in a century, and humanity faces many common challenges. We should review President Xi Jinping's important speech, uphold and promote the common values of all humankind, adhere to the global governance concept of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, and safeguard the authority of the United Nations and international fairness and justice; adhere to jointly building an open and diversified world economy, and make the "cake" of economic globalization bigger and share it well; adhere to exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations, and oppose any form of "new Cold War" and ideological confrontation; adhere to safeguarding world peace and development, building mutual trust through dialogue, resolving disputes through dialogue, and promoting security through dialogue, jointly moving towards lasting peace and common prosperity. Ding Xuexiang stated that China is willing to work with Russia to implement the important consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and President Putin, comprehensively enhance the height, dimension, and resilience of China-Russia relations, expand high-quality mutually beneficial cooperation, better benefit the people of both countries, and make greater contributions to building a more just, reasonable, and prosperous multipolar world. In the interactive session after his speech, Ding Xuexiang answered questions from the plenary session moderator on major-country relations, China-Russia education, and scientific and technological cooperation. During his attendance, Ding Xuexiang also met separately with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, and Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller, among others.
The first temporary flight to evacuate Chinese citizens from Iran arrived in Beijing yesterday (June 20) evening, bringing 330 Chinese citizens safely back to their homeland. After more than six hours of flying, the first temporary flight to evacuate Chinese citizens from Iran arrived in Beijing from Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. The passengers on board included corporate employees and local overseas Chinese. The anxiety and unease they had felt throughout the journey were replaced by a sense of relief the moment they stepped onto their homeland. They waved the national flag in their hands, barely able to contain their excitement. As of now, under the organization and coordination of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chinese embassies and consulates in Iran, Israel, and relevant surrounding countries, more than 2,000 Chinese citizens have been safely evacuated from Iran, and hundreds of Chinese citizens have been safely transferred from Israel.
The reporter learned from the Ministry of Commerce that from January to May, China's e-commerce vigorously unleashed consumption potential and achieved steady growth. Among them, consumer e-commerce significantly improved quality and expanded domestic demand. Online retail sales increased by 8.5% from January to May. Quality goods, online service consumption, and new models and business formats have become new drivers. The trend of online-offline integration has deepened, with double-digit growth in sales of digital products, 15 categories of trade-in home appliances and digital products, online service consumption, and instant retail on key monitoring platforms of the Ministry of Commerce. Since April, sales in the cross-border e-commerce zones on platforms have exceeded 2 billion yuan. Industrial e-commerce has made outstanding achievements in promoting enterprise transformation, with AI applications on major industrial e-commerce platforms extending to the entire industrial development process, reducing operating costs by 15%. In addition, the number of China's Silk Road E-commerce partner countries has increased to 35.
Since the beginning of this year, China's new digital infrastructure construction has fully expanded and accelerated, empowering various industries at a faster pace. At the recently concluded 2025 World Mobile Congress, many latest demonstrations of 6G technology emerged, and reporters found that they are all related to intelligent agents. In the simulated rescue scenario, robot dogs, intelligent rescue vehicles, and robotic arms are all equipped with large AI models. Through the 6G network, the three intelligent agents can send videos and information to each other, making autonomous judgments and coordinating with each other. Currently, China is accelerating the research and development of 6G technical standards, with the technical research phase expected to be completed by 2027. During this transition period, 5G-A technology is being deployed first. As of now, over 300 cities in China have achieved 5G-A coverage, and the number of 5G-A users has exceeded 10 million. It is expected that by the end of this year, over 100 mobile phones and terminals will support 5G-A technology. While new digital infrastructure is continuously upgraded, it is also accelerating its integration into various industries. Across the country, many communication towers are rapidly being upgraded into digital towers, not only equipped with high-definition cameras, radars, and various sensors, but also providing image analysis, information processing, and other services based on AI algorithms, providing support for key areas such as flood early warning, transportation, and logistics. Driven by new digital infrastructure, in the first four months of this year, China's digital industry achieved business revenue of 11.5 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.5%, 4.1 percentage points higher than the same period last year.
Longyan, Fujian, is one of the departure points of the Central Red Army's Long March. In recent years, the local government has fully leveraged its rich red resources, vigorously developed cultural and tourism integration, and continuously promoted the high-quality development of the old revolutionary base area in western Fujian in the new era. Currently, in Zhongfu Village, Changting County, Longyan City, tourists stroll through the ancient village to visit the Red Army Bridge and listen to red stories. Longyan City is rich in red resources, with a total of 753 red cultural relics related to revolutionary sites. The local government has comprehensively promoted the protection and utilization of red cultural relics, continuously carried out special surveys of Long March cultural relics, and continuously increased investment in the renovation of red cultural relic buildings and the surrounding environmental improvement. At the same time, it has focused on promoting the construction of the Long March National Cultural Park (Longyan section) project. Currently, 29 key projects have been completed, including the demonstration section project of the historical trail of the Central Red Army's Long March departure point in Changting and the upgrade project of the Songmaoling Battle Martyrs Monument. The integration of culture and tourism has been vigorously promoted. In recent years, Longyan has leveraged its red resources, integrated surrounding natural ecology, traditional culture, and characteristic rural tourism resources, and the red brand effect has gradually emerged. In 2024, Longyan City's red tourism received over 10.93 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%; and achieved red tourism revenue of over 4.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.1%. This year, Longyan will continue to create high-quality red tourism routes, upgrade 7 tourist routes including the Gutian Conference Site, and innovate to create "rural cultural parlors," turning villages with well-preserved red relics into popular "punch-in" destinations for red tourism and rural tourism.
Today (June 21), heavy rainfall continues in some southern regions, and the Central Meteorological Administration continues to issue an orange alert for heavy rain. Local governments and departments are actively carrying out emergency rescue and transferring trapped residents. Today, heavy rainfall continued in northern and northwestern Guangxi. In Liuzhou, the water level of the Liujiang River continued to rise, currently exceeding the flood warning level, submerging waterfront platforms and some sections of roads along the river. Starting yesterday, local authorities implemented traffic control on roads along the river, successively evacuated residents and businesses along the river, and suspended ferry services at 74 ferry crossings within the Liuzhou jurisdiction. The Guizhou Provincial Meteorological Station issued a yellow alert for heavy rain today, with cumulative rainfall exceeding 200 millimeters in 20 counties across the province. In Qiandongnan Prefecture, the maximum cumulative rainfall occurred in Leishan County, reaching 426 millimeters. To ensure the safety of the reservoir area and the passage of flood peaks, Qiandongnan Prefecture dispatched various reservoirs and power stations to open sluices for flood discharge as appropriate, organized forces to transfer residents overnight, and set up temporary resettlement sites to provide living materials for the residents. Last night, Hubei Province issued a red mountain flood disaster meteorological warning, predicting that by 8 p.m. tonight, there is a high possibility of mountain floods in some areas of Huanggang City, Wuhan City, Xiaogan City, and other places in Hubei. Relevant departments are closely monitoring the rainfall and doing their best to prevent floods. Continuous heavy rainfall in recent days has caused flooding in Xiangxi Prefecture, Zhangjiajie, and other places in Hunan, with over 53,000 affected residents transferred across the province. Today, accumulated water in some areas of Xiangxi Prefecture gradually receded, and local authorities organized cadres and staff to carry out cleanup work. The National Commission for Disaster Reduction and Relief launched a national Level IV emergency response for disaster relief in response to the recent severe flooding in Hunan Province and has dispatched a working group to the disaster-stricken area. The Ministry of Emergency Management, together with the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, allocated 81,500 pieces of central disaster relief materials. The National Development and Reform Commission urgently arranged 50 million yuan of central budget investment to support the emergency recovery of infrastructure and public service facilities such as water and electricity supply, schools, and hospitals in the disaster-stricken areas of Hunan. Affected by continuous rainfall, from 8:00 on June 20 to 8:00 on June 21, 18 rivers in the Pearl River Basin and Yangtze River Basin experienced floods exceeding warning levels. Currently, the Ministry of Water Resources is scientifically dispatching key reservoirs in the Yangtze River, Pearl River, Huaihe River, and other basins to intercept and reduce flood peaks, alleviating flood control pressure in downstream areas.
Jinzhai County, Anhui Province, is located in the hinterland of the Dabie Mountains. In the past, medical resources in the county were insufficient, and one-third of patients in the county sought treatment outside. In recent years, with the implementation of the county-level medical community reform, Jinzhai County has gradually achieved a shift from "difficulty in seeing a doctor" to "seeing a doctor at the doorstep." Let's look at the reporter's frontline survey. Hu Detian, 64, lives in the mountainous area of Yanzihong Town, Jinzhai County, and suffered from kidney failure many years ago. At that time, the closest hemodialysis center to him was the Liuan City People's Hospital, over 110 kilometers away. The reimbursement ratio for out-of-county medical treatment was low, and he had to bear 70 yuan for each dialysis session, with rental and travel expenses further increasing his burden. This out-of-county medical treatment continued for 14 years until August 2022, when a hemodialysis center was built at the Yanzihong Town Central Health Center where Hu Detian lived. Since then, he has been able to receive hemodialysis treatment at his doorstep, and with medical insurance reimbursement and various subsidies, he only pays 10 yuan per dialysis session. This town health center, which used to be unable to even perform appendectomies, can now perform more than 20 types of secondary surgeries. The change originated in 2019, when Jinzhai County became a pilot for a tightly integrated county-level medical community. The medical system operates on the principle that "village clinics screen chronic disease patients, ordinary township health centers are responsible for rehabilitation treatment, sub-center township health centers are responsible for secondary surgeries and emergencies, and county hospitals focus on serious illnesses." Patients are referred in both directions, and medical personnel flow in both directions. At the same time, according to geographical location and service scope, two county-level hospitals in Jinzhai County were designated as leading hospitals for the county-level medical community, and 7 of the 23 township health centers in the county were upgraded and transformed into medical sub-centers of Jinzhai County. After the medical map was restructured, equipment investment and talent input were tilted towards these 7 medical sub-centers. In addition, to ensure that serious illnesses can be treated within the county, Jinzhai County also introduced a preferential policy for reimbursing fees for inviting external experts for surgeries and consultations. Song Zuxue, 60, suffered from esophageal tumors and lung disease, and the Jinzhai County People's Hospital invited provincial experts to perform two surgeries for him. From 2019 to 2024, Jinzhai County People's Hospital invited over 3,000 external experts. Through medical insurance surplus funds, they covered the costs of external expert surgeries and consultations, bringing high-quality resources to the county and reducing patient outflow, achieving the goal of 90% of patients not leaving the county. Jinzhai County also reduced the incidence and hospitalization rate of chronic diseases through chronic disease management models and integrated medical-prevention mechanisms, continuously improving the convenience of insurance participation and the efficiency of medical insurance fund utilization. The medical insurance fund transformed from a deficit of nearly 80 million yuan before medical reform to a surplus of 33.16 million yuan by the end of 2024.
The number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises nationwide increased by 10.4% in the first five months. The latest data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that from January to May this year, over 24,000 new foreign-invested enterprises were established nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 10.4%. The actual use of foreign capital in high-tech industries exceeded 109 billion yuan, of which e-commerce services, chemical pharmaceutical manufacturing, and medical instrument and equipment manufacturing all saw actual use of foreign capital increase by over 20%. China stepped up efforts to promote high-quality projects to private capital. To continuously stimulate the vitality of private investment, the National Development and Reform Commission recently promoted over 3,200 new projects to private capital, involving a total investment of over 3 trillion yuan. This batch of projects focuses on key areas such as transportation, energy, and water conservancy. China launched a special rectification action for medical institution quality and safety. The National Health Commission and two other departments issued the "Action Plan for Special Rectification of Medical Institution Quality and Safety," which will launch a one-year special rectification action for medical institution quality and safety starting from June this year. The rectification will address prominent issues such as refusing to treat patients, delaying emergency rescue for critically ill patients, disclosing patient privacy, and inadequate management of medical ethics. The first batch of publicly guided pricing public data authorized operational products has been delivered. The reporter learned today (June 21) from the National Data Bureau that the first batch of public data authorized operational products were delivered in Fujian. Public data such as enterprise basic information and construction land information from local market supervision, natural resources, and other departments were developed into data products and delivered under government-guided pricing management. The first batch of purchasers were financial enterprises. "Qinglang Special Action" has cumulatively dealt with over 3,500 non-compliant AI products. The reporter learned recently from the Cyberspace Administration of China that since the "Qinglang Action to Combat AI Technology Abuse" special action was launched in April this year, the first phase has cumulatively dealt with over 3,500 non-compliant AI products such as mini-programs and applications, cleaned up over 960,000 illegal and non-compliant information items, and handled over 3,700 accounts. China successfully launched the ChinaSat 9C satellite. Yesterday (June 20), China successfully launched the ChinaSat 9C satellite into orbit using a Long March 3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. This mission marked the 582nd flight of the Long March series carrier rockets. China began construction of two solar system observation telescopes. Today (June 21), construction of the 4.2-meter ground-based dedicated astrometric telescope and the 2.5-meter multi-terminal general-purpose telescope began in Qinghai. These two telescopes will be used for solar system object observation, complementing each other in observation technical means to achieve high-precision "positioning" of solar system objects, providing high-precision observation guarantees for China's astronomical observation research and the construction of a strong aerospace nation. In the first five months of this year, Chongqing's cargo transportation via the New Western Land-Sea Corridor increased by 24%. From January to May this year, Chongqing transported 122,700 TEUs of cargo via the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, a year-on-year increase of 24%; the value of goods exceeded 22.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15%. The 2025 (Yisi) Public Memorial Ceremony for Fuxi was held. The 2025 (Yisi) Public Memorial Ceremony for Fuxi was held simultaneously today (June 21) in Tianshui, Gansu, and New Taipei, Taiwan. This marks the 12th consecutive year that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have jointly paid tribute to Fuxi. In Tianshui, Gansu, 500 representatives from home and abroad and over 100,000 people inside and outside the venue participated in the public memorial event.
The Israeli military stated today (June 21) that the Israeli Air Force carried out a large-scale airstrike on Iranian targets, including the Isfahan nuclear facility, overnight, severely damaging a centrifuge in Isfahan. The Israeli military also claimed to have killed Quds Force commanders Shahriari and Izadi in western and central Iran. Iran has yet to respond. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement on the 20th, saying it launched the 17th round of "True Promise-3" operations against Israel, targeting Israeli defense industrial facilities, command and control centers, and air force bases. Several Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv and Haifa, were accurately struck by Iranian ballistic missiles. U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 20th that two weeks was the "longest" period he would give Iran to avoid a U.S. military strike. U.S. media reported that this means Trump could decide whether to launch airstrikes on Iran in less than two weeks. Iran and European senior officials held talks, stating that they would only consider resuming negotiations after Israel "stops aggression." On the 20th, Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi held talks with the foreign ministers of the UK, France, and Germany, and the EU representative in Geneva. This was the first face-to-face meeting between Western countries and senior Iranian officials since Israel launched a large-scale airstrike on Iran on the 13th. The European side demanded that Iran resume negotiations with the United States on the Iranian nuclear issue. Araghchi reiterated that Iran would only reconsider a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue if Israel "stops aggression." The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on the Israel-Iran conflict. The UN Security Council held an emergency public meeting on the Israel-Iran conflict on the same day. UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the consequences would be unpredictable if the conflict continued. He called for an immediate ceasefire and a return to negotiations.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated on the 20th that Russian forces had taken control of another settlement in the Kharkiv region. Russia also stated that over the past week, Russian forces carried out a total of 6 group strikes using high-precision weapons and attack drones, destroying Ukrainian military industrial enterprises, air defense radar stations, drone production workshops, and storage warehouses. The Ukrainian side stated on the same day that Ukrainian forces launched strikes against Russian personnel, weapons and equipment concentration areas, command posts, missile units, and other targets, destroying Russian tanks, artillery systems, and air defense systems, and repelling Russian offensives in directions such as Pokrovsk. On the 20th, Russia and Ukraine exchanged another batch of detainees.
UN report states unprecedented violence against children in conflicts. The United Nations recently released its annual report "Children and Armed Conflict," stating that children in global conflict zones experienced unprecedented levels of violence in 2024. In 2024, 41,370 grave violations against children were confirmed, a 25% surge compared to 2023, with the situation being particularly severe in places like the Gaza Strip in Palestine. Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, called on all parties to the conflict to immediately end the war and cease abuses against children. Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, USA, erupts again. On the 20th, Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, USA, erupted violently again, with lava噴射 reaching over 300 meters and forming multiple lava flows. The U.S. Geological Survey issued an orange alert. Kilauea Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, having erupted dozens of times since December last year.
Summer Solstice is the tenth of the twenty-four solar terms and the fourth solar term of summer. At the end of the program, we enter the vibrant land of China to experience the natural and cultural beauty of the Summer Solstice. "Zhi (至)" means "extreme." On the Summer Solstice, the daytime hours in the Northern Hemisphere are the longest of the year. At this time, the yang energy is strong, and all things flourish. "Quickly weed cotton fields during Summer Solstice," at this time, crops grow vigorously and require strengthened field management. From the "long summer days with dense green trees" in literati's writings to the "long summer solstice noodles, longer affections" in ordinary people's homes, many folk customs of the Summer Solstice reflect the summer charm and carry thousands of years of cultural connotations. Flowers bloom in midsummer, and the scent of lotus is carried by the wind. Summer Solstice has arrived, and the long days are yet to end.
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